Life Lesson #15 - Hungry

Life Hack #15:

Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels; soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—that’s where your future lies. Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing. (Proverbs 23:17-18)

That ugly, green-eyed monster often known as jealousy or better known as discontent can grab onto us so quickly. Discontent breeds all manner of other issues, so it is best nipped in the bud before it festers and multiplies! Envy enters in anytime we think someone else has any advantage we don't have in life. We might not know how frequently we actually evaluate ourselves in light of what we see another "have" - whether it is knowledge, privilege, or possession. When we sense this "discontent" with what the other person seems to have or get, it can lead to a lot of ugliness in our lives we really don't want to deal with later on!

Discontent is really a sense of inequity. If you haven't already figured it out - all things are NOT equal in this life! We are all created different sizes, shapes, hair colors, skin tones, with different IQs, and born into different families. There is one place that makes the "playing field" level for all - the family of God. Regardless of station in life, aptitude, or attitude - all are equal in his eyes. All are sinners. All stand in need of a Savior. All have fallen short of the glory he intended for their lives. All need the sanctifying work of the cross. 

No one can make another grow any faster - even when well fed and in an environment which fosters growth. Growth is individualized and a response of one's inner man to the forces surrounding him/her. Growth, or maturity, may not be equal because we each embrace things we are taught in different times, perhaps even with different interpretations of what is taught, but learned from the same lesson. This makes us unique - equally human and in need, but not equal in the application of truth.

God knows discontent makes for a lot of messy stuff later on if allowed to take root. It damages relationships, causes us to struggle with issues of pride, and then leaves us just wanting more, but believing we will never have what it is we desire. Guard yourselves well against discontent because it will leave you destitute! Is it possible for discontent to drive us closer to God and his purposes in our lives? When it is recognized early and does not become a thing which drives us into the realms of envy and jealousy, that may be possible. Envy or jealousy carries the attitude of wishing "ill will" on another. It goes beyond motivating us to search for things which will drive us deeper into our relationship with Jesus - causing us to turn inward, feel deprived, and then complaining bitterly about our deprived state.

In the hands of God, it can be turned into an opportunity to open our arms and heart to receive something new from God - something we may not even have known we really needed in our life, but which he knows will bring us tremendous blessing. Discontent has a way of motivating us - but we need to make sure our motivations are God-driven. In the course of time, we will see that he takes this discontent with whatever our inability is, and he begins to drive us deeper into his hope, promises, and the privilege that comes with being a child of God. In this sense, discontent has an advantage in our life - it creates a hunger.

We need to be aware of our hunger, though - for not all hunger is to be fed. When discontent enters, the very best thing we can do is ask God if this is him creating the desire, or our "self" getting us into the region of envy. With this in mind, we will be sure to avoid the pitfalls of envy but allow godly discontent to be built into a driving force which propels us forward into the good things God desires for our lives. Just sayin!

A bit of contrast needed

Get wisdom—it’s worth more than money; choose insight over income every time. The road of right living bypasses evil; watch your step and save your life. First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. It pays to take life seriously; things work out when you trust in God. A wise person gets known for insight; gracious words add to one’s reputation. (Proverbs 16:16-18, 20-21)

Contrast is the tool by which life responses are often evaluated. Pride enters, destruction is close on its heels. Haughtiness results in a fall; humility results in an increase in one's life. Pride or haughtiness are set out as "wrong" paths for our life. Wisdom and insight are presented as better than all the wealth we could accumulate. Trusting in God and listening to wise instruction outweighs doing things our own way (creating a 'history' we may regret). God commends the wise, because they have come to the place of doing more than appreciating good teaching - they embrace it, putting it into application and then seeing the results of its application born out in the reputation they form. Two paths may lead to the same destination - but only one is right. Contrasts are set forth in order to get us to evaluate our choices.

Pride comes through in so many ways, does it not? Wherever there is an inordinate amount of "self-esteem" or conceit, things are surely not going to turn out well. Delight or some form of elation over some action we have performed, a possession we come to own, or a relationship we enter into can turn from simple pleasure to a moment of "prideful" display quicker than we can bat an eye. How do we guard against allowing pride to taint what God intends as good things within our lives? By listening to instruction and learning to trust in God. When we first begin to listen with the intention of applying instruction, we are learning to pay attention to things so as to "heed" the instruction. We want to "catch" what is being taught - not just make good notes we can keep in a journal we will allow to gather dust over time. When we are listening, we can be led. When we are obeying his leading, we are prospering. When we learn from him, our lives are secure. When we rely on his ability, our ability seems way too limited and untrustworthy. When we are good students of the precepts he teaches, our lives become strong and flourishing. All action is based in trust, all trust is reinforced by action.

We just need a little discretion in our actions - a little caution before we act. God is trying to teach us to make responsible decisions - by learning to separate one choice from another. God's plan is to help us see one choice and its outcome versus another choice and its consequence. Not every thought needs to be spoken; not every action needs to have a counteraction. We have to learn the caution we should exhibit in both our speech and action. The contrast of wise words and those of a fool involves the "flavor" of the words and the "effect" they lend to the relationship. Kind words are like honey, bringing energy to the relationship. Unkind words diminish the energy within the relationship. An empty stomach is a powerful motivator, isn't it? I wonder if we'd say the same thing about an empty spirit? Does it motivate us to become students at the feet of Jesus, eager to embrace what he teaches and in taking it in, find nourishment for our souls and delight for our spirit? We might take a gamble on the outcome of our pursuits if we are unclear about what it is we are pursuing. The most important question we can ask is not "what" we are pursuing, but "who" we are pursuing. 

If our eyes are inwardly directed, we are likely pursuing things which will tickle our fancies. If our eyes are outwardly directed, we are likely to pursue things which will please others around us but may totally leave us feeling unfulfilled. If our eyes are upwardly directed, we now enter a different plane of action - we move from self-direction or other-direction to divine-direction. To gain wisdom, apply knowledge. To grow strong, exercise your knowledge. To impact your actions, understand where they are based. Contrasts set forth in order to help guide our steps and to keep us safe. Contrasts show us the differences between one thing and another - one action over another; one bit of "heard" knowledge over one bit of "applied" knowledge. Opposites are presented because they speak the loudest. Just sayin!

Oh, so that's what I need....

I spend a little time on occasion just perusing ideas on Pinterest because I like to see what creative things others come up with to either save money, make something old new again, or reuse something in a totally different way. It gives me ideas and some of them I actually put into use in my home. What 'worked' for someone else begins to find a way to 'work' in my life, as well. It may be that they show me how to create a raised garden bed and I adopt those ideas as I create my own. It has been useful to see ways people hide pesky cables that gather behind our media stations in life. Sometimes I know what I want to create, but there are no plans I can find. That is when I have to make a "prototype" of the object. It is pieced together in the fashion I 'believe' will work, but not every prototype I create actually works very well! Some make it no further than the scrap pile. Others work 'okay', but they aren't really what I desired. It is good to know that God has a plan for us - he isn't 'winging it' with us. He has purposed how all things in our life should come together, in perfect order, in such a manner so as to allow what he purposes for us to come to fruition. 

We are His work. He has made us to belong to Christ Jesus so we can work for Him. He planned that we should do this. (Ephesians 2:10)

We are his work - we don't direct how the pieces come together - he does. This is probably one of the hardest things for us to remember in life because we think we have the perfect plan. We think we can sustain our way of living, but we forget that his plans may not allow what we have used to 'sustain' life to be there for much longer. For example, when a door closes on a work experience, it becomes harder for us to sustain our way of living without that job. We might even find ourselves scrambling to find a 'replacement' for that experience, because we have deemed it extremely important to not live in a cardboard box on the street! We go through all manner of scheming and planning to create the perfect 'workmanship' in our lives, but forget all the while that his plans may differ significant from ours. We are his work - we need to settle that issue right now. We may think we know the direction we are to be headed, but we also need to be open to his movements in our lives that will change that direction, sometimes completely while at others only marginally.

He made us to belong to Christ Jesus - so we can work for him. We aren't created without a purpose in life. We are created to first of all belong. We belong to Christ - we don't walk alone - we haven't been rejected, standing out there unprotected and alone in this life. We have been given grace, embraced by Christ, and now we belong to Christ. We are actually created to belong - it is a good thing to belong to the one we are created for - outside of realizing it is 'in him' that we belong, we will always seek to 'belong', but will struggle to find where it is we actually belong! Grace upon grace actually is a 'condition' of belonging. We are given his love and shown how deep his love is by the continually infusion of his grace. It is this continually infilling of his grace that helps us 'feel' that we belong. Our work begins the moment we realize we 'belong' to someone other than ourselves. We were not created to please ourselves - but to work for and in Christ Jesus. We belong and find our greatest reward in working for and in him.

We could resist this plan for a long time, but eventually we would find whatever we pursued would be less than fulfilling. We might enjoy a modicum of 'fulfillment', but we would never realize our full purpose because we are only fulfilled to the degree that we allow ourselves to be engaged in the work we were created to do in Christ Jesus. Just sayin!

Replant me

Compared to ............ I am like ...........

This is a pretty open-ended statement, but one we run over and over in our brains, most of the time without even being aware that it is happening! Why do we find it necessary to compare - to put things within our lives on a scale against what another has, does, or is on the opposite side of that scale? I guess we will never learn that God has a purpose for each of us - independent of what another does, is, or has! Comparison is often the very thing that erodes at our faith and brings decay into what we refer to as contentment or fulfillment. We need to guard against this erosion and decay, but how?

It makes little difference to me how you or any human court passes judgment on me. I even resist the temptation to compare myself to the ever-changing human standard. (I Corinthians 4:3)

If we spend today looking at ourselves in the mirror, what will we see? Will we see exactly what is there - no more, no less? Not likely - because we will eventually think about our skin in comparison to that friend a few years old who looks even better than we do, or the one who works out regularly, eats mostly veggies and fruits and is the size of a twig. We do this all without much encouragement. In fact, we have to do a whole lot of 'discouragement' of our thoughts in order to get them back under control. 

If we are always looking at the 'them' in our lives, we will likely begin to do one of two things - fear they think less of us than we'd like them to, or fear they think more of us than we see as our value or worth. Either way, we lose! Human standards are an ever-changing target, so God warns us to not use them. I had a professor in Bible College who always tried to tell us there was a danger in comparison because it took our eyes off of what God was calling each of us to do as individuals. We each have a calling - no matter how small or large, mature or immature we may be! We need to keep this in mind anytime we do some 'mirror-gazing'.

Resist the desire to compare. That means you have to actually get those thoughts under control and refuse to entertain them! This is the only way to actually begin to settle into the purpose God has for us in our lives. Yes, I did say 'settle into his purpose' because it just doesn't happen in a 'poof' all at one time. God's purpose for us is constantly developed - even though he has designed it fully - we will take time to develop into it. Fruit in our lives isn't instant - it is grown. Callings don't develop overnight - they are grown, refined, and sometimes even 'replanted'. 

What do I mean by 'replanted'? There are times when it seems God brings 'death' to a vision in our lives - something we were pursuing or a purpose we felt we were to fulfill. When these times come, we don't just stop in our tracks and not move on. We seek God's will in the 'replanting' of our purpose once again. Renewal brings new growth and with that newness comes a difference aspect of how that purpose will be fulfilled in and through us. As with all callings in life, the very thing that stands in opposition to the fulfillment of them may actually be the pathway to the 'replanting' that will bring even greater purpose and fulfillment. Just sayin!

So...what fulfills you?

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. (C.S. Lewis)

Did you ever stop to consider where you find your greatest discontent may also reveal to you where it is you will find your greatest contentment? If we are so disillusioned with our present world, I wonder if it is because we are desiring another world more? Is that a bad thing? Only if that 'other world' is one that leads us down a pathway away from God! If it is a pathway that draws us nearer to him, then it is not a bad thing at all! In fact, God's hope is that we will keep our attention clearly fixed on the hope of a future with him, while living effectively in this world by living in the present with him at the helm of our lives.

Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation. Because what Isaiah said was true: “The one who trusts in Him will not be disgraced.” Remember that the Lord draws no distinction between Jew and non-Jew—He is Lord over all things, and He pours out His treasures on all who invoke His name because as Scripture says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:10-13)

As we go through life, we experiment with all kinds of things and ventures - trying to fill some void in ourselves. Whether it be a void we think will be filled when someone loves us enough, or we will have no void left when we reach a certain amount built up in our savings accounts, the void will always demand to be filled. Learning which void demands to be filled with anything other than what God designs to fill that void is the only way to ensure we are not being 'filled' with things that will only yield further 'emptiness' in our lives.

As I was carrying my children in the womb, the doctor's always asked me to abide by a healthy diet - one that was free of 'empty calories'. Why? Those chips may have tasted good at the moment, but did very little to aid in the growth and development of the life within. We sometimes try to satisfy an urge or need with 'empty calories' in a spiritual sense, too. We think we can get fulfillment apart from how God tells us he brings fulfillment, all the while oblivious to how 'empty' our pursuit will leave us feeling in the end. 

Fullness isn't found in the here and now. To be truly fulfilled, we need to be keeping our eyes on eternity. Eternity holds the only true fulfillment. We can be satisfied to some extent here on this earth, simply because we live here and now with Christ at the center of all we do. We can be fully satisfied by remembering we are called to fulfill a greater purpose than what we realize on this earth! Just sayin!

You sound hollow!

Did you ever stop to consider why some things are created "hollow"?  Indulge me for a moment, please.  When something is hollow, it could be said to be empty, right?  It has capacity inside which is just not filled up yet?  Something extremely hollow, such as a deep hole in the ground, lacks resonance - we can throw a stone in it, but we may never hear it hit bottom - there is no "return" of sound to confirm the vastness of the hollowness.  Some things are purposefully created hollow - such as a water pitcher, or the kitchen sink.  They have a purpose in the way they were created, right?  Guess what? So do we!

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.  (2 Corinthians 4:5 MSG)  

We are created with a "hollow" deep within where God's Spirit is intended to fill us up.  When this "hollow" is filled with anything other than his Spirit, the hollow may be "filled" but it often leaves us unsatisfied.  Think about the kitchen sink for a moment.  If it were filled with greasy, cold water, just how well could it accomplish its purpose of cleaning our dishes when we placed them in it?  It is filled, isn't it?  Yet, it is filled with something which is not going to allow it to fulfill its ultimate purpose - the hollow is consumed with something useless to us at the moment.  

Think about the gourd which dries out.  A hollow is created in the drying process - in hopes it will produce a nice little maraca to shake.  If we went to shake the maraca and only heard one small seed moving around in the hollow of the gourd, we'd probably say it was worthless to produce the music we desired to hear.  The gourd looked like a maraca, but what was on the inside determined its value to the musician!

Now, think about the "hollow" in our lives.  We might fill it with all kinds of other "stuff" - things which fill our time, but leave us feeling like there was nothing of value produced in the end.  We might find ourselves filled up, but just not able to accomplish what God intends for our lives.  The hollow is meant to be filled - but how it is filled is more important than it being filled!

Paul writes to the Corinthian church, reminding them of the message brought to them by his ministry team.  You might see the passage this way:

Our message is not about ourselves - our "hollow" has been filled with the hope of Christ.  We are only "hollow" messengers who have been filled up!  We are filled up with light - once there was only darkness - but now, we are filled to overflowing with light!

Oh, lest you think I am rewriting the scriptures and you get all twitter-pated over me taking this liberty, let me just have this liberty, will you?  God creates us with a "hollow" - on purpose!  Our "hollow" was not an oversight on his part, or because we did something wrong.  It is there for a purpose.  It is much like the glass blower who creates the pitcher with a hollow core - designed to be filled with refreshing substance.  It is like the kitchen sink maker, who designs the sink to be a place for the cleansing of that which comes into contact with its "hollow" when it is filled to the brim!

We have a "hollow" - but have we allowed to fill the space?  Are we like the gourds, dried out, but just not producing any real music from our lives?  Are we like the kitchen sink - filled, but stagnant?  Are we like the water pitcher, hollowed out and shiny - empty on a shelf, only to be admired for what it is "capable" of doing, but never really fulfilling the purpose for which it was created?  Or are we allowing God to "fill" the hollow of our core with the goodness of his grace, the integrity of his love, and the joy of his peace?  If so, we are likely "giving out" what it is which fills our hollow!  For those filled with the good things of God's Spirit find the hollow constantly filled to capacity and overflowing!  

Maybe it is time to examine the "hollow" of our hearts.  We might just find we have allowed some stuff into the hollow designed to be filled ONLY by God himself.  If so, the hollow is not fulfilling its purpose - it is just filled.  Sometimes the best thing we can do is to "empty out" the hollow and allow God to fill it with the good things he intends!  Just sayin!